Toronto

PitchTalks: Pre-Spring Training Edition

Last night, Toronto’s baseball faithful enjoyed one of the most entertaining editions of Pitch Talks to date.

Alexis Brudnicki shared her deep insights and knowledge about Canadian International Baseball. I always appreciate the early speakers and panelists. Most of the time they bring a new and fresh perspective on the sport.

alexis brudnicki | pitchtalks | karimkanji

Alex Seixeiro and Scott Cullen shared their thoughts on the upcmoing fantasy baseball season. I’m not a huge fantasy player. However, there were tons of people in attendance who had their nerd caps on. It was an amazing sight to behold.

alex seixeiro and scott cullen | fantasy baseball | pitchtalks | karim kanji

Finally we had the pre-season Blue Jays banter with Scott MacArthur, Mike Wilner, Jamie Campbell and Gregg Zaun. And this panel DID NOT disappoint. Zaun, in fact, stole the show. He shared stories of his time with the Baltimore Orioles (getting put in his place by Cal Ripkin Jr.), Florida Marlins (World Series champs) and Toronto Blue Jays (helping JP Arencibia learn to become a major league catcher). Zaun was uncensored and in the mood to share with fans of the best sport in the world.

gregg zaun | pitch talks | karim kanji

If you’re a fan of baseball in Toronto (or Canada for that matter) then Pitch Talks is the place to be. What are you waiting for?!

Here are some more photos from last night:


 

Toronto

Skating in Morningside Park

Michael Gauthier must have been proud. This past weekend the natural ice rink that Professor Gauthier and his environmental science students built (with the help of volunteers, community members and Home Depot, among others) finally officially opened.

We first came across Gauthier and his rink in the fall during one of our weekend city hikes.

Here’s a great write up of the birth of this 100% community initiative.

And here’s some photos from this weekend’s skating festivities. Can you tell it was the coldest weekend of the year?

 

concert

Hey Rosetta! shines as opening act for Stars

This past Family Day long weekend, I attended the Stars show at Toronto’s historic Danforth Music Hall. The opening act was Hey Rosetta! from Newfoundland.

It was the first time seeing any of these bands live as well as attending the Danforth Music Hall. and I came away both pleased and excited.

Stars are a favourite local band that has been making waves both here in Canada and around the world for their fun pop anthems and energized live shows. Their 2012 album, The North, is in heavy rotation on my laptop. And they did not disappoint the thousands in attendance.

Hey Rosetta! are the “new kids on the block”. And I came away more than impressed. So much so that I truly believe that they are going to be one of the biggest indie rock bands in the world. Think the same level as Arcade Fire. They have a ways to go but there was something about them that impressed me.

Maybe it was the impressive vocal range of lead singer and songwriter, Tim Baker. I don’t want to jinx anything but he kept on reminding me of Coldplay front man, Chris Martin. Or maybe it was the durability of Romesh Thavanathan who played guitar, cello (I think) and guitar. Most likely it was that any band who has a french horn featured in multiple songs is a winner in my books.

Look out for these guys!

 

 

blog

An End of an Era

Nothing lasts forever.

Stephen Colbert left The Report to play the straight man in late night television. Jon Oliver took his talents to HBO. And even household favourite David Letterman is leaving late night.

Today, Jon Stewart announced his retirement from The Daily Show. This dramatic change in the television landscape opens the door for both fresh new voices as well as his “conservative” critics to fill the void.

social media

Twitter at Advertising Week Canada

Last week, Toronto played host to Advertising Week Canada. I wrote an article for itbusiness.

All last week, the Canadian marketing and advertising world was busy showcasing the most popular campaigns and innovations at FFWD 2015, or Advertising and Marketing Week in Toronto.

Twitter Canada played host to a session titled, “140 Characters and Beyond: Exploring The Power of a Tweet.”

Read more here.

social media, sports

The Day I Interviewed a Big Thinker

I was recently reminded of this short interview I did with Jon Sinden. Sinden is now the VP of Marketing for Beerlicious. His most recent gig before that was building the social and digital properties for Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (MLSE).

This particular interview was conducted in the press box high above center ice at the Air Canada Centre which is home to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors.

We chatted a bit about the role of digital and social in bringing fans closer to the action. I hope you enjoy!

social media

The Legitimization of Social Platforms as Performance Channels

This week Toronto is playing host to Advertising Week – Canada. And I’m excited that our company, Catalyst Canada, is producing 5 original articles this week. Here’s the one that I was tasked with writing:

“Over the past 10+ years we have witnessed the rise of social media and social networking. What once was the domain of individuals quickly became a hybrid of brand marketing and personal posts. Today we have come to expect zero organic reach for brands on Facebook. And while brands continue to see reach on Twitter, many have opined that Twitter may follow Facebook’s lead as it continues to monetize their platform.”

Read the entire article, The Legitimization of Social Platforms as Performance Channels.

social media

The latest Facebook changes

Recently, Facebook announced changes to their News Feed algorithm. Again. They’re always making changes. Sometime users hate them. Most of the time, brands are left scratching their heads. Marketers see change as an opportunity. Here’s the piece I wrote for Catalyst Canada:

“According to the most recent numbers Facebook has made publicly available, more than 19 million Canadians are logging on at least once every month with 14 million of us checking our news feed every day.  Add to that the brand updates from the hundreds of thousands of brands and companies on Facebook and the average user has more than 1000 status updates in their newsfeed when they login.”

Click through to read more on the 2015 Changes to Facebook.